💰 Jersey City homeowners will pay about $630 more on average after the tax hike.📈 The increase is more than seven times New Jersey’s 2% property-tax levy cap.⚠️ The city was facing a 30% hike before receiving $120 million in state aid.
JERSEY CITY — The largest bailout in New Jersey history wasn’t enough to prevent a massive property tax hike in Jersey City.
That’s about $630 on average for Jersey City homeowners, who already face some of the highest property taxes in New Jersey and the country. City homeowners have a $11,249 property tax bill, which rose 6% last year.
The increase takes effect immediately.
The 15.15% spike is also more than seven times the state’s 2% property-tax levy cap, yet it’s not even the largest hike in the last five years. In 2022, the city’s property taxes climbed by a jaw-dropping 33%.
Why Jersey City says it needs a 15% tax hike
This latest double-digit increase prevents cuts to first responders, the youth employment program, and basic services such as filling potholes, according to first-year Mayor James Solomon. He said the hike included in the city’s $886 million budget would be the hardest thing he’d ever ask of his constituents.
Solomon blamed the hike on his predecessor. Earlier this year, Solomon’s office audited the city’s finances and found a $255 million budget gap. He accused former Mayor Steve Fulop of approving budgets that kicked fiscal responsibilities down the road. Fulop has rejected that characterization.
“Jersey City is no longer pretending. We know what we owe, we know what we take in, and for the first time in a long time, we have a plan to close the distance between the two,” Solomon said in a message to the city.
NJ gave Jersey City $120 million before the tax hike
It could have been twice as bad, as only weeks ago the city was facing a 30% hike instead of the approved 15% increase. In July, the state approved the largest bailout for a city in New Jersey history.
The city received $120 million in aid from the state, including a $105 million loan and a $15 million grant. It was greenlit on the condition that Jersey City would approve the property tax increase.
The bailout has drawn outrage from state Republicans, who argue that suburban and rural New Jersey taxpayers are effectively helping cover Jersey City’s fiscal problems.
“This is a case study in what happens when Socialists run out of other people’s money & expect a gargantuan bailout,” Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, R-Sussex, said.
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Average New Jersey property taxes in 2025
Check to see whether your municipality’s average tax bill last year went up or down. Data is from the state Department of Community Affairs. Municipalities are listed by county and alphabetically.
Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5
Share of your tax bill going to schools vs. municipality
How your property tax bill is split up depends on where you live. This is the data from the state for the year 2025.
Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5